We Love Notre Dame . . . or Do We?

Those of you who know Kevin well, know that he is a HUGE Notre Dame football fan.  Every year the girls get new Notre Dame shirts to wear during football season.  A couple of years ago we bought a kids cup that says "I love Notre Dame."  Recently, whenever I give it to Lucy, she cries and says, "I don't want this cup!  I DON'T yike (like) Notre Dame!"  She literally refuses to drink out of it!

Last night Kevin found an Indianapolis Colts bib and suggested we start putting it on Daphne.  Ummm, maybe we shouldn't force it on her.  She may end up feeling the same towards the Colts as Lucy does the Irish!  LOL!

3 Months

Daphne was 3 months yesterday!  She is changing and growing daily - too fast, it seems!!  Highlights from the last several weeks:

She weighs 10 1/2 pounds

She is batting at toys hanging above her.  This is a favorite activity right now - no matter how fussy she is, I can lay Daphne under something with hanging toys and she is instantly happy!  

When on her back, Daphne reaches out and grabs onto anything within reach.

She laughed for the first time this week - at Lucy (funny because when Lucy laughed for the first time, it was at Norah).

She tracks the big girls with her eyes.  She is starting to twist her body around to see them.  

When given a bottle, Daphne drinks 3-4 ounces - but she takes FOREVER!!  It may take an hour to drink 4 ounces - even with a #2 Avent bottle nipple. 

6pm - 7pm  is her fussiest time! 

She is blowing bubbles all the time - Norah and Lucy think this is hilarious!

She is coos and oohs and aahs quite a bit when she is one on one with Kevin or me.

She is sleeping from about 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 straight!!!!  This is by far the BEST accomplishment!!

Happy Easter

We had a very nice, relaxing Easter - which was great after a very busy weekend.  Alison and the boys came to church with us and then came to our house for dinner.  The kids had a great time hunting Easter eggs and playing! 

Lucy didn't really want to smile - not sure why because she had been a good mood all morning.  Check out their cute dresses from Grandma Jackie!  They loved matching!!

Bedtime Prayers

Lucy's bedtime prayers have gone something like this:

"Dear God, Thank you for mommy.  Thank you for daddy.  Thank you for Norah.  Thank you for Daphne.  Thank you for the trees.  Thank you for the flowers.  Thank you for the grass.  Thank you for the birds.  Thank you for our bunk beds.  Thank you for the ladder.  Amen."

Her mealtime prayer goes like this:

"Dear God, Thank you for our food and our God.  Amen."

A LONG Night

We have had a rough couple of nights with Daphne.  It seems maybe we have created a paci montster.  She eats around 10 p.m. and then doesn't eat again until 6 or 7, but still ocassionally wakes up in the night.  We just stick the paci in and all is well for a couple of hours.  Then the paci falls out and she cries.  One of us sticks it in and she falls back to sleep.  It seems as if it is getting worse each night.  Naps haven't been great either.  I lay Daphne down with the paci and before she is even asleep, it falls out and she cries.  I seriously could put the paci in a dozen times before she falls asleep.  This wasn't an issue with Norah and Lucy since they are finger suckers so I am not sure what to do.  Now after about 5 days/nights of this we are exhausted.  

Top that off with Lucy's BAD cough that just started!!  I need a nap and it is only 7:30 a.m.

Again the Tattoo is Discussed.

Some of you may remember reading this.

Lucy's turn.

Yesterday, Lucy says to Kevin, "Why do you have a damp (stamp) on your yeg (leg)?"

Kevin's response, "It's not a stamp, Lucy.  It's a tattoo."

Lucy, "A tattoo?"

Kevin, "Yes."

End of conversation.  

Her Other Name

Today Norah called me by my full name, using my maiden name instead of Swinigan.  She asked me what her other name was.  After explaining that she will have the same name until she gets married, she said, "So, when I get married, I will be Norah Rae Diehl because that is Bennett's last name and I am going to marry Bennett."  

Then a few minutes later, she said, "Well, maybe I am going to marry Luke.  I don't know yet, it will be one of the Diehl boys.  I just haven't decided which one yet."

Back to a Normal Routine. . . .Finally

After 2 months of fitting school in whenever we can, we are finally back into a normal routine.   I picked up a few new things at the St. Louis Homeschool Expo over the weekend and Norah was excited to try some new things.  We needed some sort of phonics book/curriculum because I have no clue in what order to teach phonics rules.  She is more than ready to learn basic phonics rules.  I have tried to teach some when she is reading, but really, I needed some direction.  We are going to use Explode the Code book 3.  I am glad that I waited for the convention because I would have bought the wrong level online.  

From Rod and Staff I bought the Unit 1 reader and reading workbook and some Little Jewel stories.    These books are great because the pictures are simple and black and white so the focus is on the words - not the illustrations. 

School went really well this week!  Daphne's best nap is in the morning so I make sure that we get started right after Daphne goes back to sleep - even if it is only 8:00.  Lucy kept herself very busy doing her own thing - which is unusual.  I think the favorite part of their morning is our math/manipulative time because I just open the shelf and they get to play with a number of manipulates that are hidden the rest of the day.  Max and Denise gave us a new manipulative called Fit-a-Space, which sparked new interest this week.  Some of the girls' manipulative choices this week included:  patterning with unifix cubes, stringing beads, matching shapes, counting pennies, addition with a die, puzzles, and transferring rice with a spoon.

Our art lesson this week, learning about lines, came was the first lesson from How to Teach Art to Children.  We talked about horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines.  Norah identified lines around us and drew some of her own.  She made a picture using cut paper lines.

For our read aloud time we are reading The Adventures of Bobby Raccoon.  We usually read right before rest time and then Norah works on her notebook page during rest time.

Writing as a princess is just one perk we enjoy while homeschooling.